Other World
by Izaalka
Summary: After having found himself in a completely different world Roy Mustang tries to find the only key, which could bring him back to his own world - the Elric brothers. Shounen ai, Edward & Roy - developing relationship. Alphonse & alternate!Winry.
1. Roy Mustang

_Hello, before anything else I'd like you to know a few things. Firstly - this story takes place after CoS. I've read some historical stuff, so that there shouldn't be many mistakes of such matter, yet if you do notice some, please do let me know. Same goes for spelling and grammar mistakes. Secondly - I obviously do not own FMA or anything related to it, except for a 5 feet poster hanging on my wall. And last but not the least - the story hasn't been beta'd yet, so please, don't jump to conclusions or be too disappointed. Thirdly - the story was somewhat based on my other story - 'I'd do anything'. That story was, well, if I had to be honest, failed, too short and too primitive, so I decided to rewrite it and add some action and history in it.  
_

_One more thing. I try to keep this story a bit different than the others. It has less (but not none) humour, more action and more historical facts. I also tried to concentrate more on the world around the characters as well as the characters and their emotions and motives behind their actions. If anything seems weird of out of character, please do notify me._

_So, concluding, I hope you do enjoy this and point out whatever you did or did not like. Thank you in advance _

_- Isabella.  
_

* * *

**1. Roy Mustang**

******_"_****Closing the Gate was to be a simple task. One objective: obliterate it. Nothing too particular. One snap of my fingers would have been enough. Should have been enough. Yet..."**

Roy growled and crumpled the piece of paper he had been writing on. He could hardly believe that he had gotten the idea of writing a 'memoir'. It was a common knowledge that writing your thoughts down on paper made you feel more at ease, yet it did nothing like that for him. He only grew more and more irritated by the fact that he, the almighty Flame Alchemist, was reduced to sitting in an uncomfortable chair and writing some deplorable stories like a foolish teenage girl. And he had no one else to blame but himself. Had he paid enough attention and hadn't been so confident in his skills, maybe he wouldn't have been hauled into the Gate. According to his theory he should have landed in the same place as the Elric brothers. Yet somehow when he had woken up the only blonde he could have seen was a young girl hovering over him and grinning from ear to ear. The same girl he had been living with for two years now.

"Hey, Roy! Packed already?", a high pitched voice was heard and Roy lowered his head. He sighed and stood up from his chair.

Two years ago he had awoken in some old and abandoned street of a city which, as he learned later on, was named Warsaw. The street was littered with various trash giving the most horrid stench he had ever had to smell and there were people staring at him from a distance. A one glance at their faces affirmed him of the reason why none of those paupers came close to him – the fear in their eyes as they stared at his militia uniform made it all too obvious. He had no idea for how long he had been lying there, yet the pain in his back told him it hadn't been a short period of time. He tried standing up, only to realise he didn't have the strength to. Suddenly feeling as if the whole world had been against him, he gave up and closed his eyes trying to gather his thoughts. Yet he was not been granted the time as he was been pulled out of the thoughts by none else but a replica of Winry Rockbell, who spoke to him in an unknown language. A language he had no other way, but to learn during those last two years.

"Yeah, Anna, I've done it some time ago", he answered and spun around to face a blond girl in her early twenties. She wore a simple gray outfit that surely had seen better days and had her hair tied up in a long ponytail. It was her that he had mistaken for the Rockbell girl two years ago. Which wasn't very far from the truth, as her name was indeed Winry Anna Rockbell. Although, she insisted on being called by her second name, having said something about origins and prejudice.

"Oh? Haven't expected you to," she said, surprised. The girl eyed Roy's suitcase which was lying on his sofa-bed (which, as well, had seen much better days) as if to confirm that what he had said was true. Finally she shrugged and continued talking. "So if you're done here come with me. I have to bid my farewell to mom and dad before we leave."

Anna left the room, put a dirty brown jacket on herself and walked out of the small apartment with her seedy baggage. Roy looked around. Grey walls, grey windows, shadows of people walking on the streets under a grey sky. No sign of any mirthful or volatile colours anywhere in sight. He sighed, also put a colourless coat on himself and left the apartment with his own luggage in hand. He soon joined Anna on the street and both of them continued their walk through the city. It was the last day of their life on the, ironically, Warm Street. As far as he could remember there hadn't been a single warm night ever since his arrival. He glanced at the buildings – many of them missing more than one window panel, cracks in the walls visible even from this distance. It was clear that he wouldn't cry over the loss at nights.

They passed a plain exhibition in a shop window which consisted mostly of some alimentary products he was sure they couldn't afford and they turned into a smaller street. Here young and half-naked children were playing together in the puddles of mud. Dirt covered their greyed faces, yet some sparks of simple joy could have been seen in their eyes. Anna smiled genuinely seeing them and reached into her pocket. She drew out a small sack of sweets and gave it to the children. For some of them those were the first dainties they had seen in days. The kids gasped in awe, thanked her vigorously and ran off to the rest of their friends to share the sweets together.

"You've bought those sweets with the rest of your last payment, haven't you?", Roy more stated then inquired, not looking at her.

"Yes", she confirmed his thoughts and began walking again. "I won't need the money once we get to grandma's."

Roy waited for any further explanation, yet it never came. He sighed and focused on their destination, which was in front of him at the moment.

The cemetery.

They went through the old rusty gate and a cold wind blew, making the brown leaves fly up from the ground and swirl in a melancholic dance. The chilly air easily got under their coats and made them shiver in cold. Nevertheless, they wrapped the coats tighter around themselves and continued their walk. At the end of an alley was a small tombstone and a single withered flower in front of it.

"Hello, mom, dad", Anna said and lit an ever-burning fire. She knelt and entwined her hands together. Silent chants went past her lips as she prayed for a long while. Roy stood beside her the whole time reminiscing the people he had lost. He thought of his best friend - Maes Hughes, his other friends from the Military and the people that had died from his hand – the Rockbells, the Ishvallans and even the late Fuhrer. Then his sorrowful thoughts went to Edward Elric and the sin he had committed – the Human Transmutation. Roy's pain was nothing compared to what the child back then had to go through. He sighed and noticed that the girl had already stood up and was looking at him patiently. He nodded his head curtly, shot one last glance at Anna's parent's grave and they left together aware of the fact that they would never set foot there again.

* * *

When they arrived at the old train station it was nearly abandoned. The duo stalked through the main hall making the grey pigeons fly away from the rotting remnants of food. Roy grimaced at the forsaken birds, yet he kept on marching side to side with Anna to the ticked office. He slowed down and the girl passed next to him. She went up to the window to order two one-way tickets to Berlin. They sound of Polish language made Roy smile a little. Anna had been born in Germany and had migrated with her parents to Poland after a great war, which was commonly called the World War, because of their political beliefs and English origin. Even after so many years and the death of Mr. & Mrs. Rockbell she preferred to speak German during her conversations with Roy. Therefore he had learnt to speak her language fluently and learnt only the most necessary Polish words and phrases.

The girl smiled at him and waved the tickets. She ran up to him, her blonde ponytail swaying behind her. They glanced one last time at Warsaw before entering the only train at the station. The train, which would take them to a brighter future.

The train left the station as soon as they boarded it. Most of the compartments were cold and rusty, yet unoccupied. They chose a one in the mid section of the train, placed their suitcases on the holders above their heads and sat on the uncomfortable seats. Roy kept glancing at the luggage afraid of the safety of his and Anna's heads. After a few minutes there were still in one undamaged piece, so he focused on the view outside the window instead. They had already left the urban areas of the capital and were now travelling through a forests. The countless dozens of conifer and deciduous trees were not much to keep his nor Anna's interest for long.

"Tell me... what are we to do when we arrive in Munich?", Roy broke the silence. Anna cast him an amused look.

"We'll help grandma, of course", she smiled sweetly. So sweetly it made Roy gulp in anguish.

"And _what_ exactly will we help her with?", he inquired and remembered all the casual work he had to do in order to survive those last two years. He swore that if he had to repair yet another pipe he would burn the forsaken piece of metal instead. Even without alchemy.

"She's a well-known biomechatronics specialist. The works requires quite a precision, but I'm pretty sure you're capable of that," she winked at him and giggled.

Of course during those two years it had been impossible for Roy to remain in celibate. All those German ladies who came to Warsaw to see the 'Eastern Wilderness' were more than pleased to make his acquaintance. Needless to say that Anna, whose room was just on the other side of the wall, was far from being oblivious to those activities. The memories made Roy smirk and laugh a little.

"I'm glad you believe in me", he bowed theatrically, which earned him a full laugh from the girl.

"Yet you've got to be aware that you'll have to put those... _activities_ on hold. Grandma surely wouldn't like to be woken up in the middle of the night by some _peculiar_ noises", she tried to keep her composure, but failed miserably, as she erupted into another giggle.

"Oh, I'm aware of that. But if your grandmother is anything like you told me before I'm quite positive she'll do almost anything to make sure _you'_re the one making acquaintances of young German lads. After all, we don't want you to become an old maid, do we?", he snickered and looked at her in a confident manner.

"Oh, shut it", Anna grumped, her good mood disappearing suddenly. A blush became evident on her face, but she put her nose up high and continued. "It's not my fault I'm not like you, you old womanizer. It's a virtue, not a vice. And you'll see, I shall find myself a good, proper man, who will cherish and love me above all else", she said with such determination that Roy had to try really hard to restrain himself from erupting into a laughter fit. "Besides, you're not the one to talk. You should have married one of those German ladies when you had the chance to. You won't be young forever, you know."

"That's none of your concern", he retorted curtly and became serious. He didn't need another Maes to muse about his love life. That thought made him think of his late best friend for the 2nd time that day, affirming him in the belief that his humour would not come back that evening.

"Oh, so I've found your weak spot", she squinted her eyes and, despite the man's grim face, kept on inquiring. "Is there any specific reason for you to despise the thought of marriage so much?" He cast her an irritated glare, ignoring the question. "Hmm, could it be that the position of your fiancée has already been promised to some fine lady?", Anna smirked, yet kept her ears and eyes wide open for any sign of a hint.

"Don't be foolish", he barked, but abstained from other comments regarding the matter.

"Tsk", the girl muffled a reply. "You know, those women that you've _befriended_ said some things", Anna's voice was more silent now and it lacked its previous playfulness. "Upon their departures in the mornings they would mention your muttering at night. A muttering involving a certain name", the blonde finished her statement and looked intensely at Mustang's face.

"Nonsense", said man grumped. "If there was anyone dear to me it would be I who would know of the fact, not some one-night-standers. Or would you like to correct me?", he countered and paid no further attention to the girl.

"Fine, whatever makes you happy", she said more to herself, the thought of Roy's speculated lover not leaving her mind.

* * *

A shrieking noise woke Roy up from his slumber. He groaned and looked around in haze. It was already twilight – the sun had already set and Anna was still sleeping peacefully opposite him. The man slowly stood up and gently put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Anna," he shook her lightly. "Anna, wake up." She waved her hand dismissively, yet cracked one eye open.

"What...? We there...?", a huge yawn made it impossible for her to complete the sentence.

"Yeah, I think so", he grinned tiredly. "We should get going before out next train leaves."

"Sure, sure", Anna yawned again and stood up leisurely. Roy took their suitcases and left the compartment. The blonde followed suit.

* * *

"Platform 2A, 1 o'clock", Roy read and glanced at his watch. It was barely 20:00.

"1 o'clock? That's in five hours!", Anna whined and sat down on her suitcase, which resulted in the sound of her favourite mug breaking into several pieces under her weight. "Great", she groaned.

"No complaining", the man lectured her good-naturedly. "You've got some money left?", he inquired.

"Yeah", she put a hand into her pocket and showed him some polish coins and banknotes. "I'll have to find an exchange point first, though."

The raven haired nodded and pointed at the nearest bank with a "Wechselstube" sign. She walked there, leaving him to his own thoughts.

They were in Berlin. The situation there was becoming more and more stable each day. The great crisis and hyperinflation had been overcame by Gustav Stresemann and the political situation had been stabilised by president Ebert. Even now, more than half a year after Ebert's death, when Hindenburg became the president of the Weimar Republic, the Reichstag still had the public's support.

Anna ran up to him, bringing the man out of his thoughts. She had a pile of banknotes in her hand. Soon most of the 'rentenmarks' were taken into the other hand.

"Those", she shook the larger amount of money, "are for the tickets. And those", she continued after shaking the other pile and having put the first one back into her pocket, "are waiting to be spent." Roy watched her smile and stalk with her luggage to the nearest open cafe. He took his own suites and walked after her.

The cafe was empty apart from an old waitress and some drunk fellow in the corner. They sat at a lousy table and ordered their beverages.

"You know, grandma's pretty well-heeled, so we won't have to dine in such cheap places any longer", Anna said tetchily yet gleefully. Roy eyed her – and all of a sudden he saw a glance of something that caught his attention. He unexpectedly stood up and dashed to the exit. "R-Roy? Hey! Where are you going?!"

He didn't waste his time looking back at her. The more important issue was in front of him, somewhere behind those forsaken pillars, so close, yet so far away and still out of his sight. He sped up in hope of nearing his target and when he noosed out from the last passage he had almost been spotted. He hid behind the column and carefully peeked from his hideout. A few feet from his stood... _himself_.

"Sir, it is not wise to travel without an escort at such time", a female voice behind the _second him_ was hear. Roy leaned out more. Behind his other self stood Riza Hawkeye.

"Nonsense, of course I do have an escort", the alternate-Roy eyed Riza and gave her his famous smirk.

Roy looked at his other self. He wore a greenish and greyish military uniform with a high range badge on his forearm. His left eye was not missing, as well as the ever-present smirk. Riza looked the same as he had remembered her – hair tied up, a gun in her hand, concentrated and alert. He seriously hoped she hadn't spotted him.

"Anyway, how are things with Hindenburg going? Or never mind him, how are Stresemann and Luther? The Locarno Treaties consist of any good for us?", he inquired seriously with a dose of leisure.

"Please, excuse me, sir, I know not of their current state", Hawkeye saluted and kept her eyes fixed on a point next to her superior's ear.

"That's alright, lieutenant. You may rest. When does our next train leave?"

"In about three and a half hour, sir", she replied.

"Tsk", he didn't seem pleased. "Inform Armstrong we're in need of an air transportation. We cannot waste more time."

"Sir, yes, sir!", Hawkeye saluted once more and headed to the nearest telephone booth. The alternate Roy sighed. Suddenly he spun around.

"Who's there?!", he shouted. Roy started breathing heavily. He had no idea whether to trust his luck and go meet _himself_ or rather run away. He tried to calm down. "I asked who's there?!", the man bellowed once more. Roy made up his mind. He crept away, as silently as possible. He could hear footsteps behind him, so as soon as he passed the passage, he started to run. He ran into the cafe, in which Anna sat impatiently, sat next to her, grabbed a newspaper she had been reading and hid his face into it.

"You there!", alternate-Roy's voice rang and Roy could swear his heart was making loops in his chest. "Have you seen anyone suspicious?", he demanded an answer.

"N-no, sir, the only one I saw were you, sir!", a voice of an elder man could be heard. The military man grunted and ran in the other direction. "Although I could swear there was something different about you...", the elder said to himself. As his footsteps faded away Roy finally sighed and put the newspaper down.

"What was that all about?", Anna asked worriedly.

"Nothing", the raven haired responded curtly and took a sip of his now cold coffee, his hands still trembling.


	2. Edward Elric

  


**2. Edward Elric**

**"It's been so long... far too long. Wherever we go there's only prejudiced war. Hatred, pain and death everywhere. No hope for an approaching end and no sign of the Uranium Bomb. What hurts even more is the knowledge that..."**

Edward growled and crumpled the piece of paper he had been writing on. The whole idea of a 'memoir' came from Alphonse, who insisted on Ed writing all his thoughts in a simple notebook. Yet page after page kept landing in the small wastepaper basket beneath the alchemist's wooden desk. The blond let out a shivering breath, stood up from an old creaky chair and put an extra plaid-coat on himself. Another bright idea of Alphonse – a small cottage in Schwarzwald Mountains, where they could peacefully study alchemy, at least as much as this world's rules allowed them to. Now, two years after closing the gate, the older brother was almost obsessed with the thought of finding another way of getting them back to _their_ world. The memories of Winry, Rose, all his military friends and many more they had met during their search for the Philosophers' Stone were something that kept him moving on. But it was this very world and its cruelties that were the source of the immerse willingness to study unremittingly all day and night only to find one dead end after another. He could only do this much to keep himself from losing the last bits hope and going insane.

Edward sighed resignedly and headed towards their small kitchen. If truth be told the room was minuscule compared to the space designed for the laboratory and study. There was no more than an old rusty stove, a few cupboards, a small square table and two stools. Not that there was any specific reason for the second stool – Alphonse perpetually refused to drink coffee even in the cold mornings and they usually ate their meals together in the study while reading reports of inexplicable abnormalities from all around the world. Additionally, there weren't many people around who could spark a bit of interest in Edward. Hell, there weren't _any_ people in the radius of a couple of miles at the very least. Therefore, without any other tenant to occupy the said stool, it was constantly used as a platform for any sort of litter in which Ed was interested at a current moment. As of that day, on top of old manuscripts that had led him to yet another dead end lied a yellow newspaper. On the front page was a photograph of an old man holding a Nobel Prize diploma. Ed put a kettle on the stove, sat on the unoccupied stool and smiled at the photo. The man's name was Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, an Austrian professor with whom he had led some research in the chemistry field. Who would have guessed the old man would be given a prize for their work on colloids. Yet Zsigmondy had repaid himself by placing Edward and Alphonse in Munich University as students in science and medicine field. They had even given some speeches on artificial limbs, with which Ed had become quite skilful. Thanks to the knowledge gained from his father and his friend – Winry Rockbell, he could now almost as perfectly restore his artificial arm as they used to.

"Ed!", a voice echoed through the study, a cold blow of wind accompanying it.

"Over here!", Edward exclaimed and soon a person in a thick coat was standing in the door frame. "Hey", he welcomed the newcomer.

"Hey", the other boy answered earnestly and took his hood off. It was a 15 year old boy, 5 years younger than Edward himself, yet already taller than the said alchemist. He had his blonde hair cut short and both his eyes and hair were only a shade darker than Edward's. His name was Alphonse Elric.

"Took you long enough", the older brother complained. "Where the hell have you been?", he grumbled.

"I've been to town", was Alphonse's explanation. He disappeared for a second and then came back without his coat. His frame was slender and he wore a white shirt accompanied with grey trousers and same coloured vest. "A letter came from the University." He held a paper in front of Ed's face. The alchemist snorted and snatched the letter out of his hands. They hadn't been to Munich for quite a long time, yet he had no idea why the professors would want to contact them.

_Die Medizinische Klinik der Universität München, den 20. November 1925_

_Sehr geehrte Herren Elric,_

_Wir sind froh, dass wir Sie zu unsere Klinik einmal mehr herzlich einladen möchten können…_

He let his eyes scan the text and sighed tiredly massaging his temples with his thumbs.

"Aww, they want us to give yet another speech for the forsaken students", he whined and let out a French curse. The younger blonde glared at him, yet didn't reprimand him for the curse, as the irritation was getting to him as well.

"Another one about artificial limbs?", he inquired.

"Nah, something about human psychology. Guess it's your turn", Ed said and smirked. He gave the paper back to the younger one and stood up. "You're up to going there on your own? I'm still not finished with the book about..."

"Oh, come on, Ed", Al cut him in mid-sentence, smiled and rolled his eyes. He faced the stove and took two cups from the cupboard – one for Ed's coffee and one for his tea. "Just admit it already that you're too lazy to go there."

Ed remained silent for a second, then erupted in a good-natured laughter and replied, "Can't keep anything from you, can I?" He came up to Al and put his auto-mail arm on the boys shoulders. "I can't help it that they're such a boring group of old g... oh, give me a break! _Earl grey?_ You drink it _every _day! You've got any idea how much that stuff costs?" Ed took his arm off of Alphonse and rested both hands on his hips. He pouted slightly remembering the nice African coffee he had given up in order to buy the bloody tea.

"I know _exactly_ how much it costs and that's why I _will_ go and give the speech, so that I can buy even more of the stuff, simply to annoy you, dear brother", Al smiled sweetly and added an extra spoonful of sugar. "Besides", he added softly, "Christmas's in a month. Don't you think we should spend it with our friends in Munich?"

Ed glared his brother, yet couldn't catch his eyes.

"And since when do I celebrate this foolish corporate holiday? You know pretty well what I think of this sh..."

"I know! I know, but, brother", Al cut in with a sad face, "Think of it not as of a religious holiday, but as a good opportunity to spend time with the ones we care about."

"Exactly!", Edward exclaimed in response. "I've got you, we'll sit here and we won't waste those several days we could spend trying to work out how to get back to our real friends! To our world! Don't you get it? Those people in Munich are not the ones we love, they're just their alternate 'them'. They cannot replace the ones we've lost. Don't be foolish." At the end of the speech Ed's voice calmed a bit down, yet anger and grief lingered around him.

"I get it", Ad answered silently. "But you've got to understand that after all we've came through with them I'm pretty sure they're worth to be called our friends as well, despite the fact whose 'alternate them' they are", he let out a shivering breath and put a hand to his tired eyes.

"Either way, I'm staying here", the older brother stated and poured water into their cups. The smell of fresh coffee somewhat eased his nerves.

"Fine," Al barked. "Don't blame me if the matters take more time and I won't be able to come back here in time for Christmas. After all, it's just a normal day, isn't it?", he said sarcastically and left the kitchen with the mug of tea in his hands.

Ed looked into the door frame for a long time. Finally he sighed and took a sip of his coffee, momentarily grimacing. He put a few spoons of sugar into the black liquid and sighed yet again. This was going to be the worst Christmas ever.

The next morning found Edward sitting on the kitchen-stool and leaning on the table, cup of cold coffee long forgotten next to him.

"Oh, good morning, brother", Alphonse said in surprise, yawned and put a kettle on the stove.

"Good morning", the older boy muttered and yawned as well. "Don't come in yawning, it's contagious, you know?", he complained good-naturedly.

"Right, right", Al replied, still unsure whether to fuss about the previous day conversation. "So... um, would you like to go to Munich with me today?", he inquired falteringly. The older brother eyed him and finally smiled kindly.

"Yeah, I guess it won't hurt to make a short break. But, see this book?", he pointed at a book lying in front of him. It was old, rusted and missed quite a few pages. "I think I might have found something interesting. Some guy named Flamel used Izumi sensei's crest in his alchemy research. I think it's worth looking into. We'll take the book to Munich and maybe some professors there will be able to tell us more about it." He stood up and hit a hand high into the air. "Yeah! Finally getting somewhere!"

Alphonse eyed his brother. Ed's eyes were shining in anticipation, a wide grin was evident on his face. He hadn't changed much from childhood. Only his features were sharper now and hair longer. He also hadn't grown much, but enough not to be considered short. At long last Al reciprocated a smile.

"That's good", he nodded.

* * *

"Hell, I hate public transportation!", Edward exclaimed and threw himself at his bed at late Heindrich's apartment. They had kept it after his death, not only for the convenience of having a place to stay in Munich, but also because Edward didn't want anyone else to live there.

"Well, it would have taken us weeks to come here by foot, brother", Al reminded him and put down their luggage. They journey had been long indeed. After having gone to Büchertal by feet and catching a hitchhike to Bühl they had taken the train to Strasburg, where they had had a transfer to Munich. Altogether they had spent almost two days travelling and, needless to say, there hadn't been many mod cons.

"True, true", the older brother yawned. He took out his pocket watch and checked the hour – merely 2 PM. "So... we'd better get going, the professors don't take well to waiting too long", he lazily stood up and stretched. When he was about to touch the floor with his hands while having his legs straight, something in his right shoulder snapped and he winced.

"Ed!", Alphonse came up to him and helped him up. "It's your arm again, isn't it?"

"Yeah... seems like I gotta go visit the store once we're done with the professors", he admitted and smiled broadly. "But hey, it's right next to Hughes' apartment, we could pay them a visit once we're there!" Al reciprocated a smile.

"Sure, why not. Sounds like a good idea."

* * *

"Man, this building looks creepier each time we get here."

They stood in front of an old door with a sigh "Med.-Klinisches Institut.". On each side of the entrance were carved two snakes wreathed around some kind of an lantern. As Ed looked at their tongues entwined together he could feel gooseflesh on his back.

"Yeah, it does give me the creeps", the younger alchemist acknowledged. They went through the entrance and were instantly drawn into the crowd of students and professors. They tried to keep close together and after good quarter they finally got to the right room. Upon their entering a few men spun around and greeted them.

"Ah! Herren Elric!", the one of the oldest men exclaimed.

"Professor Spemann, good afternoon", Edward nodded his head.

"Professor Loewi, Herren Husserl and Scheler", Alphonse bid welcome to the rest of the known men.

Two men, seemingly the youngest, yet in their forties and fifties, came up to them as well.

"Oh, those are our sceptical Karls, as we often call them", Scheler laughed good-naturedly. "Karl Escherich and Karl von Frisch. They're both in the zoology field."

The zoologists nodded their heads and left the room without any further words. The brothers exchanged glances, but quickly regained their composure and smiled at the rest of the men in the room.

"So, what did you need us for?", Alphonse inquired.

"Ah, yes, we were hoping that...", Professor Loewi started explaining. Edward sighed and prepared himself for at least one hour of the boring talk of old men.


End file.
